Since 2008, the Left has mocked the idea that the government might have had a hand in the housing bubble and collapse and the financial crisis, which are portrayed as spontaneous outcomes of a market economy. This thesis is blasted to smithereens in this discussion with Peter J. Wallison.

Doesn't the market lead to vulgar outcomes, and undermine high culture? Paul Cantor, a member of Ludwig von Mises' NYU seminar, joins us to discuss this and more -- including topics in popular culture, including The X Files and Breaking Bad.

The real truth about Medicare and Medicaid and their true nature and consequences are completely unknown to most people. Murray Sabrin has just released a documentary on the 50th anniversary of their creation setting the record straight, and providing an alternative. Not to be missed!

Ever since we learned in school how a bill becomes a law, we've absorbed the idea that it's normal for law to be imposed from the top down. But it's possible, and indeed the historical norm, for law to emerge in a completely different, more libertarian-friendly way. Join me for a great conversation with Stephan Kinsella!

The fifth Republican presidential debate was last night, December 15, 2015, and Lew and I are on the case. A few surprises and some good lines, but mostly horrifying, save for the good performance by Rand Paul. As always, our discussion is livelier and more illuminating than the debate itself, so don't deny yourself this guilty pleasure!

Judith Curry, a highly credentialed climate scientist, discovered what happens when you question the reliability of the models on which global warming predictions are based. She also discovered that the way science is done in practice might be a teensy bit different from the dispassionate model of Francis Bacon.

I answer some helpful listener questions in today's episode: my concerns about Trump, how I know which opponents to engage and which to ignore, what historical misconception is most important for Americans to overcome, and many more.

The just-war tradition is a much-heralded aspect of moral reflection in the Western world. But does this series of criteria for the acceptability of particular wars really serve the purpose of limiting war? It's a question I've changed my mind on in recent years, and Laurie Calhoun helps me to work through the issue in today's episode.

Michael Malice returns to the show to discuss his debate with me about Alexander Hamilton. This post-game discussion is a lot of fun -- plus, we talk about what could well be the topic for our next live, in-person debate!

Here it is: the audio from the December 2015 debate between Michael Malice and me. Resolved: Alexander Hamilton was a hero for the cause of liberty. Michael argues in the affirmative, and I in the negative. You are going to love it. We're both relentless, and the audience loves it. At the end I reveal the winner.

Stephan Kinsella explains the importance of Rothbard's theory of contract -- a point I myself did not appreciate until this episode -- and contrasts it with mainstream theories, which most libertarians think are the same as their own. We need to get these fundamentals right, so listen in and learn with me!

Today I talk about the social contract arguments we encounter from critics all the time, and how we might answer them. Plus, a digression on entrepreneurship, and how I'm teaching my kids that sitting around hoping someone will hire you is the wrong way to advance your career in the modern economy. Enjoy!

Some libertarians describe themselves as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal." This is a completely wrongheaded way to think about libertarianism. In today's episode, author Tom Mullen discusses what precisely it is that both groups get wrong that leads them off the liberty path. We are not a combination of the two, but something entirely distinct.

Fostering a high self-esteem is encouraged by virtually everyone as a way to make people happier and more successful. But there is no evidence for this claim, and indeed the gospel of self-esteem can make people more anxious and less happy. Not to mention the way egalitarians have exploited the message -- why, it's not how you do, it's how you feel about yourself that counts! Dr. Michael Edelstein joins me to crush this myth like a bug.

Jordan Page's music has been a staple of the Ron Paul Revolution since 2007. He has opened for Dr. Paul many times and in many high-profile outlets. Today is the release date for his newest song, and he joins us to discuss the song, the state of America, the life of an independent musician, and the future.

We need more government involvement in health care, runs the conventional wisdom. But what if government itself is the problem? What if government has made it virtually impossible for the doctor to do his job the way we want him to? Emergency room physician Doug McGuff provides the details from his decades of experience.

In the last GOP debate, Rand Paul discussed the harm the Fed does to the ordinary person. As usual, the Left -- you remember, the people who supposedly "question authority" -- leaped to the defense of an longstanding institution. The prize for the most juvenile and uncomprehending analysis, though, goes to poor Timothy B. Lee of Vox. There is nothing left of Timothy by the end of this episode.

Laurie Calhoun discusses the origins and mainstreaming of the remote-control killing of suspects with drones, a topic that provokes still more fundamental questions about policymaking, the military, and American society.

Mike Church, host of the longest-running talk show in the history of satellite radio, was recently let go by Sirius/XM. Mike, who was already in trouble for being a Ron Paul supporter on the Patriot channel, gives us the story, and shows how he's making lemons into lemonade.

Brad Birzer has written an outstanding biography of one of the most important figures in the history of American conservatism. We discuss Kirk's sometimes rocky relationship with libertarianism, and his even rockier relationship with neoconservatism. Plus, key ideas, colorful personalities, and more.

ThinkProgress, the heresy-hunting thought-control site, lashed out at Ted Cruz last week for advocating some kind of tie between the dollar and gold. Cruz himself is not the issue; the issue is how terrible their article was. Their article is the bologna; the Tom Woods Show is the slicer.

Austrian economics is accused of being unscientific because it does not derive economic laws using the methods of the natural sciences. Does that make the Austrians dogmatic and unreasonable? We tackle this question today.

It's under the radar, but there's been more state-level pushback against the federal government this year than at any time since the creation of the Tenth Amendment Center. Pushing back on what? Surveillance, drones, license-plate tracking, the drug war, police militarization, the NSA, the FDA, hemp, guns, and more. Check it out!

Lew Rockwell and I field audience questions on everything from Pope Francis to the Confederate Battle Flag, and whether conservatives have their own kind of political correctness. Lew, of course, is the founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, publisher of LewRockwell.com, and former chief of staff to Ron Paul.

The Scandinavian countries are held up as model economies and welfare states. We've already taken a closer look at Sweden and Denmark in order to evaluate these claims. Today it's Norway's turn to go under the microscope.

Author Jamie Bartlett joins me to discuss the "dark net," that corner of the Internet that can be accessed only with a special browser. What goes on there, and why is it important for the cause of freedom?

Whether it's nonintervention abroad, or Social Security, or WikiLeaks, or Iran, or the Department of Homeland Security, or the drug war, libertarians don't quite fit in to the official "conservative movement." Jim Babka, who emphasizes these very issues, joins me to talk it all through. Plus, we discuss the great Harry Browne, an important and skilled communicator for our cause.

Some voices in the libertarian world have argued that a basic income guarantee for everyone would be better than the current welfare state from a pragmatic point of view. Matt Zwolinski adds that it is morally required, given the dubious origins of so many existing property titles. Result: an engaging exchange of ideas I know you'll enjoy. But be sure to listen all the way to the end, since that's where the best parts can be found.

Here I start with the basics and conclude with the financial crisis. The origins of money, how money creation was taken over by government, why deflation isn't a problem, how even low inflation can devastate the average person, how central banking creates instability and moral hazard, and more. These are my remarks at Liberty Fest Houston 2015.

Justin and Jessica Pavoni entered the military for the same patriotic reasons many other Americans did in the years following 9/11. But several years later, they decided they could no longer participate, and filed for conscientious objector status. We follow them through the whole story in today's episode!

Bob Murphy has co-written far and away the best book on health care from a libertarian perspective. But it's not just economics and policy in here, great and original as that material is. It's also chapters like "Surviving the Hospital" and "Medical Screening & Elective Procedures: Worth the Risk?" One of my favorite episodes so far.

Eric Peters is the libertarian authority on cars, and writes at EPAutos.com. We discussed the VW issue, the $5000 SUV Americans aren't allowed to buy, a court case in New Jersey that allows the police to search your car no matter what you're stopped for, and more.

Is the socialist calculation problem severe enough to account for the collapse of communism? We discuss that, as well as the Rothbardian contribution to monopoly theory, and whether it makes sense to think of a "monopoly price" on the free market.

We're told that young people today are just super -- why, they're so darn tolerant, unlike their stupid and backward parents and grandparents. But if we define toleration as involving how we treat the rights of people we dislike -- and of course, we should define it that way -- how tolerant are they?

There's a reason so many libertarians are Rush fans, and even if for some reason you don't care for their brand of music, you should know about them for the same of libertarian literacy. Brad Birzer, author of a new book on drummer and writer Neil Peart, joins me for a fantastic discussion!

It's hard to get a lot of people to accept our critique of a longstanding institution like the Fed. Frankly, it's hard to get them to accept much of what we believe at all, given that for at least a dozen years they've been systematically taught the opposite. Maybe we're going about this wrong. My guest and I have a compelling discussion about what might work instead!

Pretty much, no. On the other hand, does this not ring a bell? A large group is exploited by a smaller group (a ruling class) that gets the larger group to believe that this exploitation is good and just and not exploitation at all; competition among the ruling class creates more concentration and centralization, and eventually, breakdown.

The politically correct crowd believes differences in income and job placement among racial and ethnic groups must be accounted for by "discrimination." This claim is left in shreds after today's episode. I also discuss the so-called gender wage gap, and show it doesn't really exist. And quite a bit more.

Anarcho-socialists say property is a form of oppression, and that it introduces conflict into society. I say it minimizes conflict in society. Check out this great discussion with Nathan Fraser of LiveFreeFM!

The economy may be more competitive than ever, but entrepreneurs also have more resources and opportunities than ever. Business coach Tom Schwab and I talk about what today's entrepreneur needs to do: provide massive value, even before people buy. Sales and success follow from that. Non-entrepreneurs, this episode is for you, too!

Today I cover a huge array of topics in a lively, fast-moving discussion with Richard Emmons of the Ron Paul Homeschooling Podcast. Some people had said I should do something like this for my 500th episode. Well, episode 505 is pretty close! The discussion is based on my 165-lesson Ron Paul Curriculum course Western Civilization from 1493 (more on which below).

Portsmouth, New Hampshire has effectively banned Uber, the popular transportation service, but Christopher David, the Uber driver who joins us today, is among a number of Uber drivers engaged in civil disobedience against the ban.

In 1980, Julian Simon offered to let doomsayer Paul Ehrlich choose any commodity metals he liked, and if their inflation-adjusted prices increased by 1990, Simon would pay $1000. But if they fell, Ehrlich would pay. The question was: would human ingenuity figure out ways to conserve on these metals, and/or find substitutes for them? By 1990, all five metals had fallen in price, and Ehrlich paid up. What does it all mean? That's what we discuss today.

It's episode 500! Incredible. Today I spoke with two good friends, whose opinions I value highly. We discussed everything from politics to advice for young people, and from our strengths and weaknesses to our favorite memories. Please join me for this special episode.

Every once in a while we hear it said that Saddam Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction after all, and that this discovery has been drowned out by antiwar propaganda. Scott Horton joins us to dig out the facts of the matter.

The topic of a "constitutional convention," or more properly an amendments convention, convened by the states under Article V of the Constitution, is hotly disputed among people who want to limit government. Is it the only way to make things better, or could it lead to making things worse? Our two guests engage in a spirited debate in today's episode.

Fortune magazine took a bit of a swipe at me this week, taking aim at my defense of the free market in the face of the comments of Pope Francis. I devote this episode to a full-fledged response. Lots of anti-Austrian misconceptions dealt with here. Enjoy!

A century later, Woodrow Wilson's international crusading lives on, both in the establishment left and the neoconservative right. Paul Gottfried and I paint a picture of Wilson that's a bit different from what we all learned in school.

Today I discuss the concept of social justice and compare it to the traditional conception of justice that was taken for granted in the Western world for thousands of years. I take some shots at John Rawls along the way.

In this episode I discuss with Richard Emmons of the Ron Paul Homeschooling podcast my course Western Civilization to 1492, which consists of 180 video and audio lessons. We cover the ancient Hebrews, Homer, the pre-Socratics and Socrates, the Roman Empire, and early Christianity, all the way through Scholastic philosophy and on to the Renaissance.

Today we learn about the heroic sixteenth-century figure Juan de Mariana, who taught that regicide could be justified and that inflation was theft, and who anticipated important concepts central to the Austrian School of economics.

There's nothing conservative about the neoconservative worldview, says Professor Claes Ryn, author of the withering study The New Jacobinism. We get into the weeds of the neoconservative phenomenon in this provocative discussion.

I've written and spoken quite a bit about nullification, but my guest today, Sheriff Richard Mack, says it's also up to the local sheriff to prevent federal officials from harassing citizens. This one's a must-listen for sure!

One of the areas of economics to which Murray Rothbard contributed significantly is known as welfare economics. As we explain in this episode, it deals with how we can determine whether utility (individual or "social," properly understood) has been increased. Rothbard's analysis led him to the conclusion that it was impossible for state action to increase social utility.

Free-market economist Bryan Caplan, in his famous article on why he isn't an Austrian, argues that Rothbard's solution is riddled with problems. Jeff Herbener joins me for a robust defense of Rothbard.

Country after country is scrambling to deal with the thousands of refugees pouring into Europe. But the neoconservatives are also taking the opportunity to argue that if only the West had intervened in Syria, the situation would never have deteriorated to this point. Daniel McAdams joins me to evaluate this story.

By popular demand and at long last, the great Jim Rogers joins the program today. We discuss China, India, Africa, the financial crisis of 2008, whether central banks have everything under control now, and how to decide where to put your money.

Euro Pacific Capital CEO and bestselling author Peter Schiff takes listener questions today and paints us a picture of what's happening in the economy and what individuals can do to weather what storms may come.

The cost savings and improvements in health-care quality that can be realized when a physician escapes the crazy system we have now, which people mistakenly think is a free market, are staggering. Today's guest shares with us how he does it.

Did John C. Calhoun have anything of value to say, or is his entire career too stained by slavery for him to be worth listening to? I discuss Calhoun, Robert Taft, Calvin Coolidge, Grover Cleveland, and more in today's episode.

No doubt Donald Trump would be a bad president, as they all are -- though his observation that the Iraq war was a disaster, and that while Saddam kept terrorists under control, Iraq is now a haven for terrorism, is better than we hear from anyone else -- but surely there is more to say about the Trump phenomenon. Lew Rockwell joins Tom for a freewheeling discussion!

The President's supporters claim that his jobs record surpasses even Ronald Reagan's. Is that true? Wait until you hear the real story. And what about that study purporting to show that the economy does better under Democrats than Republicans? Does that mean the free market doesn't work (assuming that's what the Republicans want)? We knock this one down, too.

Tom DiLorenzo returns to the show to discuss the problems with Sanders' demand for more paid vacation time, sick leave, and family leave. DiLorenzo also challenges the conventional narrative about labor unions. You'll feel sorry for Bernie when it's all over. Nah, probably you won't.

Frederic Bastiat, who wrote two centuries ago, got to the heart of so many of the economic fallacies that plague us today. He's a thrill to read. In this episode I give an overview of his ideas. This is taken from my lesson on Bastiat in my 165-video/audio course Western Civilization from 1493, for the Ron Paul Curriculum.

It's not enough that governments took away the people's gold and made them hold paper -- now they want the people to get rid of the paper! What's behind the global attack on cash? Charles Hugh Smith pulls back the curtain.

Gene Epstein discovered a crushing flaw in the argument of Thomas Piketty, whose book Capital in the 21st Century has been used as an indictment of capitalism and inequality. He shares it in this episode!